Wyndham Worldwide Corporation Acquires US Franchise Systems

The US-based Wyndham Worldwide Corporation is to acquire Atlanta-based US Franchise Systems, a subsidiary of Global Hyatt Corporation, for a reported US$150 million. The deal, which is expected to be completed in the next 60 days, will include the Microtel Inns & Suites and the Hawthorn Suites brands, adding more than 29,000 rooms to Wyndham’s portfolio. Wyndham will also enter the extended stay market with the addition of the 91 all-suite Hawthorn hotels. This acquisition will bring Wyndham’s franchise portfolio up to nearly 7,000 properties.

A Park Hyatt For Marrakech

Global Hyatt Corporation has announced the signing of a management agreement with Moroccan company Alliances Group for the 120-room Park Hyatt Marrakech. On its opening in 2011 the hotel will become the 33rd hotel in the company’s Park Hyatt portfolio. Park Hyatt currently has 22 hotels in operation and a further ten in the pipeline.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts To Manage Properties In Zimbali

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has added a new property to its African portfolio: the company has taken over the management of the 76-room Zimbali Lodge, a mixed-use coastal resort in Zimbali north of Durban, from Southern Sun. Fairmont will also manage the 157-room Fairmont Zimbali Hotel & Resort when it opens in late 2009. For both of the Zimbali properties Fairmont has partnered up with IFA Hotels & Resorts (IFA HR). However, this is not a new alliance as Fairmont currently manages several properties for IFA HR, including the Fairmont Mara Safari Club, the Norfolk Hotel and the Mount Kenya Safari Club in Kenya and the Fairmont Zanzibar.

Two More Millennium Hotels For The Middle East

Millennium Hotels and Resorts has announced that it is to add two new hotels to its Middle East portfolio. Millennium is to sign a management contract with the Dubai-based Aber Group for the management of the Mazoon House Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road, adjacent to Dubai Media City. This hotel is expected to open in November 2009 with 79 rooms and will be the company’s fourth hotel in Dubai. The signing of a management contract between Millennium and Abu Dhabi-based Emirates & Morocco Trading General Investment bought the emirate of Abu Dhabi its third Millennium hotel. The 406-room Bab Al Qasr Hotel is to open within 30 months and will overlook the Arabian Gulf.

Two New Rezidor Hotels For Dubai

Rezidor Hotel Group is to open two new hotels in Dubai. Both of the hotels are to be developed in cooperation with the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), an initiative of Dubai’s government, and will be located in a 32-storey building in the DMCC Business Park within Dubai’s DMCC free zone. The 150-room Radisson DMCC Business Park Hotel, Dubai and a 300-room hotel which is yet to be branded will both open in the third quarter of 2011, Bringing Rezidor’s portfolio in the UAE to ten properties (three in operation and seven in development). Rezidor has also announced the arrival of the 171-room Park Inn Edinburgh which is to open in Scotland’s capital in the third quarter of 2010. This hotel will be Rezidor’s third property in the city along with the Radisson SAS Hotel, Edinburgh and a Hotel Missoni which is to open next year.

UNA Hotels & Resorts Opens A Hotel In Camaiore

The Italian hotel chain UNA Hotels & Resorts has opened a hotel in the town of Camaiore on the Ligurian sea in Tuscany, Italy. The three-floor UNA Hotel Versilia, which has 27 rooms, 42 suites and 30 apartments, was developed for a reported cost of €23 million.

Two New Ramada Hotels For The UK

A Ramada hotel is to be built near Heathrow Airport, close to Terminals 1, 2 and 3. The 200-room Ramada Heathrow is to be developed by Ramada Jarvis, for a reported £27 million. Elsewhere in the UK, another Ramada hotel is due to open later this month in the town of Oldbury, near Birmingham. The 81-room Ramada Birmingham Oldbury is owned and was developed by Wolverhampton-based group Fortmere, a franchisee of Ramada, for a reported £20 million.

Here Comes The Sun To Maputo

The 158-room Holiday Inn Maputo, on the beachfront of Mozambique’s capital city, has now been rebranded as the Southern Sun Maputo. At the beginning of June the 152-room Holiday Inn Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania, became the Southern Sun Dar es Salaam. Both of the hotels have been rebranded as part of Southern Sun’s decision to market its hotels under its own brand after ending its agreement with InterContinental Hotels Group for the right to the Holiday Inn name in 2007.

Orco Property Group Appoints a New CEO

Luxemburg-based Orco Property Group has announced the appointment of Mr Keith Lindsay as the group’s new chief executive officer with immediate effect. Before joining Orco Mr Lindsay was the Global Head of Hospitality Investments for AIG Global Real Estate.

Kiessling's Corner

Hilton has announced the opening of the new five-star, 285-room Hilton Madrid Airport, just 500 m from Madrid’s Barajas Airport. The hotel has one presidential suite, executive suites and will offer the new “Hilton Relaxation Rooms”. The founder of the US-based hotel operator, Conrad Hilton, opened the chain’s first hotel in Madrid in 1953, after the Spanish civil war. Hilton now offers 1,425 rooms in Madrid, two hotels in Barcelona and two in Valencia, and a Hilton hotel is due to open in Mallorca later this month. In Barcelona, Eurostars Hotels (a Hotusa Group brand) continues to expand with its seventh establishment in the city, the Eurostars BCN Design. The five-star boutique hotel, in Paseo de Garcia, will have 70 rooms, of which two will be suites. Currently, Eurostars Hotels has 47 establishments, of which ten are located in Europe and three in America. By Gabriele Kiessling, Analyst, HVS Madrid.